Silo seal



March 20,' 192s. 1,663,473

F. GNTHER sILo SEAL ATTORNEY BY M.

March 2o, 192s. 1,663,478

F. GNTHER sILo SEAL Filed March 19. 1927 2 sheets-'snm 2 BY ATTORNEY WITNESSES Patented Mar.v 20, 1928.

UNITED ismrrs man numana. orrmnu, ILLINOIS.

SILO SEAL.

'UApplication ledlrarch 19, 1'92LfSeria1No. 1765793.

The present invention is-concerned" with they provision of sealing-means-or preventing the Vfermentation andspoihngofensilageyparticularly with'the provision of asilov seal of the general` character disclosed Ain my prior Patent No. 1,611,025 dated December 14, 1926. `f

lAn object of the presenty invention -is-to improve the vconstructionfshown inthe prior fpat'ent both by renderingthe same more iiicient and-by standardizing theparts to'renderthe devicemore suitablefor purposes of economical manufacture, i

hThe specific-object of theinvention is'to improve the means' for sealing the edges 'of the compressing capwhich coversithe :ensilage. Y

AAnotherspecific object of the inventionnis toy provide means for rendering the pressure onthe seal-ing cap `more uniform andl readily adjustable.

Further 'objects are to provide a silolseal of simple, rugged construction which maybe readily'assembledwithin the silo yand readily removed therefrom. y Y

With the rvabove noted and other "objects vin view, the invention consists incertain novel features 1 of construction, vand combinations and arrangements of partsyas willv be more full hereinafter vset forth and pointed out in tie claims. Theinvention-` may bel'lmore fully understood ,from theifollowingdescription in lconnection with the accompanying drawingsywhereinwlFig. l is a'ifragmentaryverticalsectional view vthrough a' silo lillustrating my improved seal lin applied position.

' Fig. 2is Yan enlarged, longitudinal/sectionalN View through one of ,the anchoring'` and coupling members for the'tie bars and struts.

*Figa Sis a` sectional view of the slotted sealing ring which prevents the passage of air around the edges of the cap.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic sectional plan view ofthe .edge sealing member showing the position assumed` bythe latter whenin applied position.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional Lview i through the edge of the cap andthe silo' wall showing ythe seal in applied position.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view ofthe assembled sealing cap.

rectly-on` the top 'of the ensilage-,fand servi tot maintain: the same `in compressed an airtight-condition. This -cap is `preferabl associatedlwith a vertically disposed guidi; ing means, and the guiding -means preferably carries an anchor of considerable weight embeddedlinV the ens-ilage and acting toj hold the-cap tightlyfin place.

In the drawings I have used the numeral 10 to designate a silo wall and 11 thefensilagestored therein. A` relatively heavy anchori-ng member 12 'buried in theensilage is connected-to a rod 13rising centrally andr verticallyithroughthe ensilage and guiding they sliding movement of av sealing cap composedof a plurality of segmentalsections 13. In laddition to providing for Vvertical movement`r Jof -the cap; 1 thelrod 13 *preferablyVA carriesl` collar 111 bearing against' the apices of thel segmental sections 13 whiclrlatter'cooperatively defi-ne a central openingithrough which `the 'rod passes. f Thus ythe weight4 of theanchor f vis applied directly to the cap at they center and'indirectly'through mech-- anism-'Which I'fshall later describe. v

l Preferably the under' face of lthe ycircular cap defined by the cooperating and mating segmental sections lislined with tar' paper. This tar paper l'lin-ing may comprise a'series ofoverlapping tar paper sheets 15 lseen-in f Figi \7 which prevent' passage ofairv between theabuttingedges of thef'capsections 13. The space-Abetween the ca and' the 'silox lwall isysealed-'by a ring-mem r 16 kwhich-may be ieithercontinuous kor formed lwith a `.plurality of overlapping sections. The ring 16 'of v tar paper :or "similar material is inwardly transversely slotted `as `at 17 from one redge so' that-when the paper'is bent along allongitudinallinetherewill be provided a ydependingfiange 4'18 disposed between'the ensilage andthe silo wall and an inwardly presented horizontal iange 19 under the edge of thecapffor-medby the tongues" defined by the slots' 17. As theipaperis longitudinally curved in .accordance `with'fthe curvature of the silo wallsjthese tongues willoverlapas indicatedFinFig.` 4, andform an effective seal.

The segmentalse'ctions 13,*may be connected oni-their upper surfaces by a plurality ofboards20, the intermediate portions of which;y overlie the :abutting edges of fthe segmental-sections, and the ends of which Vabut each therythese boards y'forming a concentric seriesvoffpolygonal braces-and conneotors, the number of sides of the polygons being predetermined by the number of segmental sections used to complete the circular cap. rlhe adjacent ends ofthe boards 20 of the outer ring are connected by short lengths of pipe or tubing 2l serving as fulcrums or anchorages for castings 22 one of' inwardly upwardly facing inclinedv members such as the sockets of Fig. l or thestud 26 of F ig. 2 receive the lower outer ends of inclined struts 27.

The inner ends of the tie rods are hooked as at 28 for engagement with a com mon central anchoring ring 29 surrounding the upper end of the rod 18, and nuts 30 screwed on to the threaded outer ends of the tie rods render itv possible to tighten them and cause the ring 29 to exert a downward pressure on the center of the sealing cap due to thefact that the tie rodsnear their inner ends rest on blocks 3l fixed to the cap. j

The upper inner ends of the struts 27 bear against the dished under face of a collar 32 slidable on a rod 33 and spring pressed downwardlyby a coiled torsional spring 34.- encircling` the rod between the collar and a washer 35 held in place by a nut 36 screwed on' to the threaded end 37 of the rod. The lower end of the rod 33 and the upper end of the rod 13 are hooked so that they may be connected by a chain 38 or equivalent flexible device.

Y F rom the foregoing description it will be seen that the anchor .l2 exerts a direct downn ward pressure on the center of the seal, and

I the spring 34 and the central pressure may beyincreased by tightening the bars 25 and causing them t9 bear down upon their supporting blocks 3l. Obviously the anchor might be eliminated and a stationary guide member provided at the center of the silo, which guide member might be anchored in the ground. As the spring pressure 34 gradually packs down the ensilage the spring will become less edective, but by the time it has lost its effectiveness and pushed the collar 32 down, the rod 33 will have become unnecessary, since the weight of the cap alone at this time will be sulhcient to maintain the ensilage in a compressed condition, the ensilage not being` inherently expansive.

Obviously, various changes and alterations might be made in the general form and a1'- rangement of the parts describedl without departing from the invention. Hence I do not wish to limit myself to the details set forth, but shall consider myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Y I claim:

l. A silo seal including a weighted airtight platform adapted to fit within a silo and rest on the ensilage to seal and compress the same, an adjustable guide rod extending through the platform and guiding the vertical movement thereof, a block spring pressed downwardly and mounted adjacent the upper end of the rod, .and inclined struts rockably connected to the platform near the edge of the latter and having their inner upper ends arranged under the block to transmit the downward spring pressure of the same to the platform.

2. A silo seal including a weighted airtight platform adapted tolit within a silo and rest on the ensilage to seal and compress thesame, an adjustable guide rod extending through the platform and guiding the vertical movement thereof, a block spring pressed downwardly and mounted adjacent the upper end of the rod, and inclined struts rockably connected to the platform near the edge of the latter and having their inner upper ends arranged under the block to transmit the downward spring pressure of the same to the platform, the platform comprising a plurality of segmental complementary sections and the means for rockably mounting the -ends of the struts, including stationary members bridging the adjacent edges of two platform sections and upon which strut carrying members are rockably mounted.

3. A silo seal including a weighted airtight platform adapted to fit within a silo and rest on the ensilage to seal andcompress the same, an adjustable guide rod extending through the platform and guiding the vertical movement thereof, a block spring ressed downwardly and mounted adjacent t e upper end of the rod, and inclined struts rockably connected to the platform near the edge of the latter and having their inner upper ends arranged under the block to transmit the downward spring pressure of the same to the platform, the adjustable guide rod comprising a pair of aligned guide rod sections and an adjustable flexible device connecting them, whereby the lower section is hung from the upper section.

4. A silo seal as set forth in claim 3,y and wherein an anchor is carried by the lower section and embedded in the ensilage and a collar on the lower section transmits the weight of the anchor directly to the platform before the latter. has been gradually depressed by the spring.

5. A silo seal including a weighted airtight platform adapted to lit within a silo and rest on the ensilage to seal and compress the same, a sealing ring lying between the ensilage and silo wall and including a flange projecting inwardly, overlying the ensilage ensilage and silo Wall and including a flange and disposed under the outer edge of the projecting under the outer edge of the latplatforrn. form, said ring being of readily ben able 10 6. A silo seal including a Weighted airmaterial and the flange being slitted to pro- '8 tight platform adapted to fit Within a silo vide overlapping tongues.

and rest on the ensilage to seal and compress the same, a sealing ring lying between the F RED GNTHER. 

